Fantastic colorful sedimentary patterns of Bentonite layers, seen as striations exposed in the Utah Badlands. The Bentonite Hills are composed of the Brushy Basin shale member of the Morrison Formation formed during Jurassic times when mud, silt, fine sand, and volcanic ash were deposited in swamps and lakes into layers, now revealed through erosion. Aerial photograph.
Location: Utah
Image ID: 37947
Fin whale showing distinctive white right jaw, aerial photo.
Image ID: 38078
The leafy seadragon (Phycodurus eques) is found on the southern and western coasts of Australia. Its extravagent appendages serve only for camoflage, since it has a nearly-invisible dorsal fin that propels it slowly through the water. The leafy sea dragon is the marine emblem of South Australia.
Species: Leafy seadragon, Phycodurus eques
Location: Rapid Bay Jetty, South Australia
Image ID: 39134
The Virgin River Narrows, where the Virgin River has carved deep, narrow canyons through the Zion National Park sandstone, creating one of the finest hikes in the world.
Location: Virgin River Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah
Image ID: 28578
The Virgin River Narrows, where the Virgin River has carved deep, narrow canyons through the Zion National Park sandstone, creating one of the finest hikes in the world.
Location: Virgin River Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah
Image ID: 28579
Dorsal and Caudal fins of the Ocean Sunfish Mola mola, as it Swims in the Open Ocean, near San Diego. The caudal fin is not a true tail but is a tail-like structure called a clavus that serves as a rudder. The dorsal (top) and anal (bottom) fins are used for propulsion.
Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola
Location: San Diego, California
Image ID: 39407
Oak Alley at Boone Hall Plantation, a shaded tunnel of huge old southern live oak trees, Charleston, South Carolina. Plantation owners planted long palisades of Southern Live Oaks to provide a shaded, cool allee (from the French) on which they could stroll, entertain and find diversion from the intense heat of the South.
Species: Southern live oak, Quercus virginiana
Location: Boone Hall Plantation, Charleston, South Carolina
Image ID: 37394
Belt of Venus and Earth Shadow at Dawn. The Belt of Venus is actually alpenglow visible near the horizon during twilight, above the antisolar point. Like alpenglow, the backscatter of reddened sunlight also creates the Belt of Venus. Unlike alpenglow, the sunlight scattered by fine particulates that cause the rosy arch of the Belt shines high in the atmosphere and lasts for a while after sunset or before sunrise.
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 37476
Milky Way over Sandstone Fins. Sandstone fins stand on edge. Vertical fractures separate standing plates of sandstone that are eroded into freestanding fins, that may one day further erode into arches.
Location: Arches National Park, Utah
Image ID: 29254
A California sea lions leap high out of the water, jumping clear of a wave while bodysurfing at Boomer Beach in La Jolla.
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40834
California sea lions bodysurf together, suspended in the face of a big wave, Boomer Beach, La Jolla.
Location: La Jolla, California
Image ID: 40837